Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football Preview & Projections For The 2025 Season

It's the dawn of a new era for Wake Forest Demon Deacon football. There's a new head coach in town, Jake Dickert of Washington State, and an entirely new cast of players on the roster. Most turnover this heavy takes time to succeed, and this probably isn't an exception to the rule. With so many newcomers, what does this Wake Forest team look like for the 2025 college football season?

Also, what kind of expectations should Wake Forest fans hold for this transition? We'll look at the coaching staff, the new systems, the team, and the possible highs and lows for your Demon Deacons this coming fall.

We're nearing kickoff for the 2025 college football season, and that means tune in every week with Wake Forest on SI for an extensive preview on every foe the Demon Deacons will play this season. Scroll to the bottom for those opponent previews.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons Offense Preview

Wake Forest football preview — Nov 30, 2024; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons running back Demond Claiborne (1) tries to elude Duke Blue Devils cornerback Tre'Shon Devones (24) during the second half at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

For 2025, you may need to adjust your eyes and your expectations because Wake Forest football is going to look a whole lot different. The Slow Mesh, made famous by Dave Clawson, is on its way out in favor of a more spread offense with lots of tempo under OC Rob Ezell. That system worked well with a dual-threat QB at South Alabama as Ezell led the Jaguars to a top-30 finish in points per drive.

SEC transfer Robby Ashford (Auburn, South Carolina) appears to be the rising starter at QB. The 6-foot-2 senior hasn't found his footing yet in college football, but is a good athlete who showed the ability to complete passes in the right system. RB Demond Claiborne returns for his senior season after rushing for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Deacs in 2024.

Two starters on the offensive line and one in the receiving corps played for Dickert at Washington State last year. Fa'alili Fa'Amoe is a 6-foot-5, 315-pound star at tackle who had a shortened season the last two years to injury (the same injury that ended his 2023 season inhibited the start to 2024). Size doesn't appear to be an issue up front as all five starters are over 300 pounds.

There's not many proven commodities in the receiving game. Tennessee State transfer Karate Benson (yes, Karate Benson) hauled in over 1,000 yards in Nashville but preseason depth chart analysis suggests he could be WR3 in a two-TE system. Who steps up in this offense is anyone's guess.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons Defense Preview

The offense was pretty bad last year–Wake failed to score 20 points four times–but the defense was an affront to decency. Wake finished near the bottom in the country in pass defense, allowing teams to move the ball at will. Explosive plays were limited, but teams didn't need to attempt downfield passes because there was always 10-12 yards to be had. Eight opponents scored 30+, including a bad Cal offense that hung 46 in Winston-Salem. It was a tough watch.

Under new DC Scottie Hazelton, will anything improve? Probably in the long run, but this year's defense appears to be another where you may want to shield your eyes. Safety Nick Andersen logged 122 tackles, and he returns along with linebacker Dylan Hazen (84 tackles). Defensive end Langston Harvey was an 11-game starter on a good UConn defense, and corner Ladarius Webb notched a pair of interceptions at South Alabama. Nickel backer Davaughn Patterson had 74 tackles as a freshman.

But that's about it. No all-conference performers from anywhere and a slew of transfers, many from smaller schools.

Defensive systems traditionally start to take root in Year 2. Year 1 has plenty of growing pains, especially with a unit chock-full of unproven players. The early going for the schedule affords Wake a few weeks to figure it out, but a date with Georgia Tech to close September could stress this unit. The overall cast of opposing offenses is far from daunting all year long–Virginia Tech, Florida State, Virginia, and North Carolina could all have offenses that flat-out stink–but there are landmines like against SMU and Oregon State.

Best Case Scenario For Wake Forest

Look, expectations need tempering this year. It could be a rough transition out of a decade-plus under Clawson, many years of which were really successful (2021). Two new coordinators, an entirely new QB room, and a new team culture are going to take time to gel together. Fortunately, there are two exceedingly winnable games to start the year on the right foot at 2-0.

There are other winnable spots in this schedule, including at Virginia, Delaware, and perhaps Florida State or North Carolina, depending on whether either combustible team implodes midseason. But to sit here and pitch a bowl game or better for Wake is disingenuous. Could they shock and meet the upper 5% of this team's potential and finish 7-5? Surely. But that's like victory lapping a 2-10 Florida State based on outlandish and unreasonable guessing.

The best case scenario for Wake is to win all the games they should–Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, and Delaware–beat a fringe ACC opponent like Virginia, and pull an upset or two over Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Florida State, or North Carolina. That's 5-7, an improvement on last year, and a good start.

Another ceiling play could still be 3-9 or 4-8 but show competitiveness and resilliency against the rest of the schedule. Don't get blown out 40-6 by NC State or allow an offense like Virginia Tech to drop 42. Set the table for next year when this team could resume ACC competitiveness.

Worst Case Scenario For Wake Forest

I'll be honest, this roster just isn't very good. Ashford isn't just unproven, he couldn't touch the field at two previous stops, one of which had a horrific cast of quarterbacks. Behind him is Deshawn Purdie, who left Charlotte because his agent told him he could start over DJ Lagway at Florida – I'll let you draw your own conclusions there. It's a dire QB situation and, without a QB (we saw it last year), things go south very quickly.

Claiborne is a stud, no denying that, and there are a handful of productive starters on defense; I also really like Fa'Amoe, but his direct impact on points scored and points allowed is minimal. I don't love the move away from a unique offense like the Slow Mesh to one seen in just about every corner of college football. No longer will teams have to special order a defensive game plan.

The offensive and defensive fronts are both near the bottom of the ACC, and if Wake doesn't get a push up front, Claiborne and everyone else's ability to perform goes out the window.

Wake won't be favored in a single ACC game, and its most winnable ones (Virginia, Virginia Tech) come on the road. There's a world in which Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, and Delaware are it for wins. The floor here is 3-9 with non-competitive looks against most of the ACC slate. The truth is likely somewhere between 5-7 and competitive and 3-9 and not competitive this season.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2025 Schedule

Date	Opponent
Aug. 29 (FRI)	Kennesaw State
Sept. 6	Western Carolina (FCS)
Sept. 13	NC State
Sept. 20	BYE
Sept. 27	Georgia Tech
Oct. 4	at Virginia Tech
Oct. 11	at Oregon State
Oct. 18	BYE
Oct. 25	SMU
Nov. 1	at Florida State
Nov. 8	at Virginia
Nov. 15	North Carolina
Nov. 22	Delaware
Nov. 29	at Duke

Wake Forest Opponent Previews

Week One - Kennesaw State
Week Three - NC State
Week Five -Georgia Tech
Week Six - Virginia Tech
Week Seven - Oregon State
Week Nine - SMU Mustangs
Week Ten - Florida State
Week Eleven - Virginia
Week Twelve - North Carolina
Week Thirteen - Delaware
Week Fourteen - Duke

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